Over the past five years, Nationwide has processed more than 10,000 workers' compensation claims. Their researchers decided to take a closer look at the numbers to try to understand how and why these accidents occur.
They found that one of the most common — and costly — causes of claims occurs when construction workers fall from elevated surfaces. These accidents represent more than 30% of all construction claim payments, according to data from Nationwide.
These falls are also the most deadly type of accident on construction sites. As the leading cause of death for construction employees, falls from elevated surfaces account for 370 of the 991 construction fatalities recorded in 2016 according to BLS data.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.